Last night there was a brief power outage at my house but my newly-installed HFC modem did not re-connect afterwards (it was in a loop where it started up, flashed its 'downstream' LED for a couple of minutes then rebooted and tried again). After an hour or so and some basic troubleshooting (power cycle, check cables etc) I called tech support to report the problem. The announcement told me about network outages in QLD and NSW but nothing for SA where I am. When I spoke to the support rep I had difficulty communicating to them about the problem. They seemed unfamiliar with the HFC equipment supplied and eventually ended up calling it the "fibre box" even though its not- they then asked me about the status of certain indicators that aren't present on the HFC cable box (it seems they had a script for a different device). Eventually they told me they were escalating to the supplier.

At about 1AM the service was restored, coinciding with a message from my power company that power was back on (even though power at my house was already on).

HFC (Hybrid Fibre Coaxial, also referred to as 'cable')
Landline phone and internet services won’t work if there is a power outage either within the HFC network or within your premises. Restoring power to your premises with an alternative power option will have no effect if the HFC network is also experiencing power loss. You should consider keeping a charged mobile phone in case there is a power outage of any sort.

So I basically wasted my time and yours reporting a fault that was beyond our control.

So two questions
1) is there any way of finding out if the HFC network is down in my area?
2) What words do I use with tech support so they know this is a HFC cable service and diagnose appropriately?

So two questions
1) is there any way of finding out if the HFC network is down in my area?
2) What words do I use with tech support so they know this is a HFC cable service and diagnose appropriately?

Sorry to hear that your Exetel experience hasn’t been great so far.

1)Is there any way of finding out if the HFC network is down in my area?

---------- There can be outages notified through the wholesale provider websites. However, we cannot confirm on that. Usually when Exetel identifies on any of the reported outages, we publish and periodically updating through viewforum.php?f=296

2) What words do I use with tech support so they know this is a HFC cable service and diagnose appropriately?

---------- This shouldn't be an issue for any engineer, as the service type is well categorized under your service number. All you need to provide is the correct 10 digits service number and confirm the verification details. If you can provide me the relevant ticket reference number here or PM me your service number, I will check on this and advise them accordingly.